In case it effects anyone's answer, I'm 32, and currently on a 3-day-a-week SS-style strength cycle . Soon I will shifting to a more 5-3-1 type program and starting to get into prepping for the outdoor track season (100m, discus, hammer) -- not competitive, just for fun.

I also recently started taking ZMA (maybe 6 weeks ago) and have had excellent results in terms of sleep and general recovery, although it's worth it for the dreams alone IMO. The ZMA dose includes 30 mg of zinc.

Just trying to get a sense of whether others have noticed any particular benefits or drawbacks from supplementing zinc more regularly and at higher dosages.

Wow that sounds like a lot of Zinc when you are taking 50mg twice a day and then you are taking another 30mg at night. I've only ever taken zinc iwth other things like a multi or ZMA. Never tried it solo. I don't recall that mentioned in Lights Out but I'm probably due for another read soon, it was pretty dense and I have a few take aways but I'm sure I missed way more.

If you do happen to give it a go mind updating how it goes here?

__________________
"And for crying out loud. Don't go into the pain cave. I can't stress this enough. Your Totem Animal won't be in there to help you. You'll be on your own. The Pain Cave is for cowards.
Pain is your companion, don't go hide from it."
-Kelly Starrett

be wary of calcium and copper issues with too much zinc. Everything I have ever read says no more than 50mg per day..... but then again I would like to see the results of 100mg a day with proper dosing of copper and calcium as to avoid the absorption issues.

__________________
"And for crying out loud. Don't go into the pain cave. I can't stress this enough. Your Totem Animal won't be in there to help you. You'll be on your own. The Pain Cave is for cowards.
Pain is your companion, don't go hide from it."
-Kelly Starrett

Yes, Allen, 11mg seemed pretty low to me, particularly as I have been taking 3x that amount for awhile now with no ill effects. But adding another 100mg to the 30 I'm taking seems like a lot, and my copy of Lights Out is currently on loan to a friend, so I haven't been able to read the surrounding text.

Chris,
I'm looking at my zinc sulfate solution and comparing to the PDF you linked...seems like using this liquid to supplement zinc would be slow going. 1 tsp only contains 1.15mg of zinc, so even 6 tsp/day would only be around 7mg of zinc!

I'd say someone should definitely be supplementing some zinc picolinate on top of it if they ever want to get somewhere.

Yeah, I only find the liquid sulfate solution to be useful for testing.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brian Baggetta

Chris, how much have you been taking?

I had been following the Lights Out recommendation (150mg with meals taken at home... 10-12 doses a week total). Since I now grimace when taking the zinc sulfate liquid, I plan on moving down to 100mg a dose for a month or two and then retesting. I've been using the Source Naturals Zinc product.